Filter News

Lyndra Secures Funding From The National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases For The Development Of Ultra-Long Acting Oral HIV Therapies

Published: May 02, 2017

WATERTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following their recent closing of a $23 Million Series A financing
round, Lyndra, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a 5-year
grant by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
(NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. The grant will fund
the formulation and pre-clinical development of a once weekly oral HIV
therapy.

The Lyndra platform, an orally administered dosage form, is designed to
deliver sustained, steady-state drug release for up to a week or longer
by temporarily residing in the gastric cavity. Lyndra’s dosage form can
deliver a wide range of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Less frequent
dosing could reduce patient and caregiver burden, and improve patient
compliance and health outcomes. The ultra long-acting HIV therapy being
developed with NIAID’s support will help to increase patient adherence
to antiretroviral treatment and pre-exposure prophylaxis.

“Given the need for life-long antiretroviral therapy, there is great
interest in long-acting oral option to make it easier for patients to
adhere to their treatment regimens,” remarked HIV specialist Dr. Paul
Edward Sax, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

“Inconsistent adherence to HIV therapies is particularly impactful due
to the potential for therapeutic failure and the development of
resistance. A patient forgetting to take his or her medication, even for
a few days, has significant implications for long-term health. By
creating a weekly oral formulation with an optimized pharmacokinetic
profile, we believe we will enable improved therapeutic success. Oral
long-acting therapies complement injectable therapies in development and
potentially expand access,” said Andrew Bellinger, Chief Scientific
Officer of Lyndra. “Support from NIAID will enable us to begin
development of this important and timely therapeutic.”

In addition to the work Lyndra is conducting with NIAID, the company is
also developing a pipeline of ultra long-acting therapies internally and
with partners.

About Lyndra

Lyndra aims to fundamentally change the way patients take medicines
through the development of oral, ultra-long-acting, sustained release
oral therapies that drastically improve healthcare outcomes. The Lyndra
platform was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in
the laboratory of Dr. Robert Langer in collaboration with the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation. Lyndra formulations transform medications
taken daily or more frequently into a weekly or monthly dose, promising
to improve patient adherence as well as to optimize the pharmacokinetic
profile of the dosage form. For more information visit https://www.lyndra.com/.

Lyndra, Inc.Ellie McGuire, 339-222-6519Head of Business
Development for Lyndra, Inc.emcguire@lyndra.com